Connection Troubleshooter

Mac

Windows

Windows 8

Your internet connection (or your friend's) are the main source of problems you might encounter with calls and video calls on Skype. Connection issues can take many forms: shaky or blocky video, low-quality audio, dropped calls, and silences or odd background noise.

All calls are composed of two (or more, in the case of a group call) connections – yours and the person to whom you are talking – so it's possible the problem might not be on your end at all. However, there are a few things you can try to improve your connection and Skype experience.

Using the Call Quality Monitor

First, check the Call Quality Monitor while you're on a call to check your connection speed. It’s located at the bottom-right corner of your Skype call window (you might need to move your mouse to get it to show up).

White () – Good connection; you and your friend both have fast connections.
Yellow () – Medium connection; should still work for voice calls.
Red () – Poor connection; either you or your friend don't have sufficient bandwidth to ensure a good Skype call.

Improving your connection

There are a few things you can try to improve the quality of your connection:

If using WiFi, try moving to improve your signal strength or connect directly to your router using an Ethernet cable.

Close any programs that are using your connection: for example, file-sharing applications, download managers, streaming audio or video, etc. This will ensure that Skype can take advantage of the available bandwidth you have.

If all else fails, we suggest speaking to your internet service provider. They can test your connection.

Firewalls can also affect your connection, so make sure that Skype isn't blocked in your firewall settings. Learn more about firewall settings in Windows XP, Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1. Also, routers or any other non-direct connection can affect your connection speed (firewalls and routers might create a relayed connection). To see if your connection is being relayed:

A box with technical information related to the call will be displayed. If the call is relayed, the word next to SessionOut and SessionIn will be RELAY_UDP or RELAY_TCP.

If you're on a relayed connection, there might not be much you can do to improve your connection speed; try making audio calls instead of video, or connecting directly to your router or modem with an ethernet cable.

Your Internet Explorer settings can also cause a problem (even if you don't use Internet Explorer as your primary browser), but it's really easy to reset these settings. Simply follow the steps in this article.

Remember, everything may be good at your end, but your friend may have an issue with their connection. Suggest that they take a look at this guide as well.

There are a few things you can try to improve the quality of your connection:

If using WiFi, try moving to improve your signal strength or connect directly to your router using an Ethernet cablee.

Close any programs that are using your connection: for example, file-sharing applications, download managers, streaming audio or video, etc. This will ensure that Skype can take advantage of the available bandwidth you have.

If all else fails, we suggest speaking to your internet service provider. They can test your connection.

Firewalls can also affect your connection, so make sure that Skype isn't blocked in your firewall settings. Learn more about firewall settings in Windows 8/8.1. Also, routers or any other non-direct connection can affect your connection speed (firewalls and routers might create a relayed connection). To see if your connection is being relayed: